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Pacific Grove isn't waiting for a regional seawater desalination plant to free up a little more local water.

The city is proposing three small water projects that would irrigate the P.G. Municipal Golf Links (pictured above) and El Carmelo Cemetery, which currently use about 100-125 acre-feet per year of potable water, with wastewater and urban runoff.

The three projects, as presented in an attachment to a Dec. 19 City Council agenda item:

1. Pacific Grove Satellite Recycled Water Treatment. A new wastewater treatment plant would be built at the site of the former Point Pinos Wastewater Treatment Plant. Wastewater would be captured from the city's sanitary sewer and conveyed through 1,100 feet of new 8-inch pipeline in the golf links to the plant. The recycled water would be delivered through 1,300 additional feet of 12-inch pipeline to irrigation sites within the city. The resulting water would cost between $2,624-$3,042 per acre-foot.

2. Pacific Grove Recycled Water. Wastewater from 500 homes in the Del Monte Park area would be diverted to the existing Carmel Area Wastewater District water reclamation plant through existing pipeline owned by Pebble Beach Community Services District. The recycled water would be stored in the Forest Lake Reservoir and delivered near Spanish Bay Golf Course in Pebble Beach. The city would build 10,000-13,500 feet of 12-inch pipeline to take that water to the golf links, cemetery and other municipal properties for irrigation. The cost would be about $2,105 per acre-foot of water.

3. Pacific Grove Storm Water Recycling. Urban runoff from the Greenwood Park and Congress storm drains would be diverted to the David Avenue reservoir site—a California American Water corporate yard that former Mayor Dan Cort once envisioned for a city reservoir—and be treated for irrigation uses. The project would require a new 15-million-gallon concrete reservoir to be built at the Cal Am site. According to the report, "treatment will include a constructed wetland, microfiltration, ultraviolet radiation, and disinfection." About 8,800 feet of 12-inch pipeline would deliver water to the irrigation sites. The water would cost $6,875-$8,977 per acre-foot.

Taken together, the projects would free up potable water for city development. Other benefits, according to the document, include less energy use than for an equal volume of desalinated water; a net water quality improvement in Monterey Bay and potential to expand to at least 250 acre-feet per year.